[Mental health, work and retirement: a focus on mental allienation].

It is an exploratory-descriptive study that aimed to analyze the disability retirement of employees of the UFRN for mental and behavioral disorders in the period 2000-2005. The sample was obtained from records of the DAS/PRH/UFRN. Of 43 retirees, 58% were men, 41% retire between 41-50 years and 35% between 51-60 years, 44% occupied position/function for the high school level and 28% for the elementary level. The mood disorders lead to 61% of the retirements by mental alienation, followed by thought disorders (19%), organic mental disorders and personality disorder (4%). We found that they lived with intense psychological distress creating an indirect burden on their lives and on their family's life facing lost opportunities of life and to the adjusted years of disability affecting their work.